About Me

Originally a geologist by training, I now work as a museum professional. My passion is old photographs, the photographers who took them, the equipment and technologies they used, the people and scenes in the photos, and the stories behind them.

Friday, 12 April 2013

Sepia Saturday 172: Sunny Snaps walking pictures

Between the two World Wars photographers took to the streets in search of customers and produced a genre now commonly referred to as walkies (short for walking pictures) or street/pavement photography. I have displayed examples of these in two previous Photo-Sleuth articles, Spotlight Photos Ltd. of Derby and in Bournemouth and Great Yarmouth.

This week I feature several postcard-format walking pictures from the firm Sunny Snaps, which operated for just over a decade between 1927 and 1940 in London and on the coast of Sussex. A single view has been found ostensibly taken in Hunstanton, on the Norfolk coast.

Although sunny snaps was sometimes used in a more general - and perhaps generic - sense to refer to walking pictures, and there were other firms incorporating the word snaps, postcards produced by this particular firm are immediately recognisable by their distinctive format. The cards are usually, but not always, produced in portrait orientation and have a panel at the base of the card. This panel is embellished with a pen-and-ink drawing - usually a scene or image representative of the location, but sometimes a royal or patriotic picture/logo - the name of the firm, the year and usually the location. There is almost always a negative number as well.

Walking pictures differ from other portraits taken by itinerant or street photographers because they are taken "on spec." The photographer takes snapshots of a succession of passers-by while they are walking towards the camera, irrespective of whether or not the subjects have requested one, and presumably without their permission. The subject is handed a numbered ticket (corresponding to the negative number) and informed where he or she may collect and pay for a postcard print in due course. Simon Robinson has determined from his research into this firm, including an analysis of atreet scenes, that they usually made arrangements with a handy shop premises nearby, and erected a temporary advertising banner to assist in directing customers.

As a result, the subjects are often captured regarding the camera with a vague degree of suspicion - as in the first snapshot from Bognor Regis - or are oblivious to the photographer's presence, as the woman with a pram (above) appears to be, more interested in the contents of a London shop window display.

As a result they often have a candid feel to them mostly absent from more formal photographs from the era. This characteristic is generally missing from vernacular snapshots where the subjects are often conscious that their images are being captured, and may even ham it up for the camera. The fact that Sunny Snaps portraits are usually of a very good technical standard means that there are fewer of the distractions normally present in walking pictures, giving us a unusual glimpse into the subjects' everyday lives and personalities.

These schoolboys, possibly caught on film on their way home from school, are enjoying their freedom and have a casual look about them (at least the two on the left do). Had their parents been present their faces would most likely have been far more guarded. I wonder which one of the three spent a good portion of his weekly pocket money on the postcard.

The trick, if the photographer could manage it, was to single out his subject and take his "candid" portrait in such a manner that he or she stood out from both the surroundings and the other pedestrians, and of course in a favourable light, rather than being caught with a scowl or merely being lost in the crowd. They were not always entirely successful - in this example the subjects almost disppear into the background. Many of the people on the streets of these coastal towns would be holidaymakers, and therefore far more likely to part with a few coins for a souvenir of their visit, but it was still necessary to entice them with a good quality product.

In this slightly more unusual posed Sunny Snap, a family is posed relaxing in canvas folding chairs in front of wooden changing sheds on the Littlehampton beach in 1937. A similar shot with a beach setting from a decade earlier shows a family in the midst of constructing a sandcastle, so it appears that when trade was not particularly brisk on the street, the photographer would venture onto the sands in search of customers. However, there were others specialising in scouring the beaches, and a seaside photographer guarded his turf aggressively. Unauthorised interlopers were referred to as Spivs or Smudge Grafters.

This neatly dressed and combed young man appears deep in thought while he strolls down the quay, a newspaper folded and firmly tucked under his arm, and presumably shortly before being accosted by a man waving a ticket under his nose, and badgering him to return and buy a print later that day. Judging by the survival of this postcard it seems that he did so.

Although it is tempting to assume that a large proportion of the photographs printed in this speculative trade ended up being discarded, judging from contemporary reports perhaps we would be underestimating the marketing skills of the teams who worked the pavements and beachfronts. Alan Purvis was employed by Walkie Snaps at Blackpool's Central Pier in 1958, and describes these skills in some detail:

The best time for taking pictures was on a Sunday morning as the new set of holidaymakers, who had arrived on the previous day, were in a good mood and still had money to spend. Friday afternoon was the worst as they were going home the next day and were stoney broke! Some people would refuse a ticket, others would say that they had been snapped the day before and regular walkers might raise a hand to indicate that they weren’t interested in having their picture taken. Occasionally clients actually requested one snap or more to include all the family.
The photographer had to make a quick decision as to the composition of the picture. Snaps of a single person were less likely to be bought than those of a couple; pictures of three or more people could easily include total strangers; even in 1958 a couple may not have wanted to be seen together!

Terence Baggett worked as a beach photographer in Weymouth in the 1960s and reports:

Volume, then and later, was important. My best score was 1,200 in one day with a Leica. Sales was more important as pay was calculated on 3d/sale and less than 60% sales won a threat of sacking.

Searching through your own family photo collections will almost certainly bring one or two walking pictures to light. You may even find a couple among the other Sepia Saturday contributions this week.

If they were in that style I think I might too, although I must confess that I did not purchase any walkies taken of us exiting/entering the cable car at Rotorua a few years ago - the way they are presented these days is just so tacky it turns me right off.

Love these! Wow - I had no ideas this little(?) industry existed! These days when photos are so ubiquitous, ironically few people would be very interested in having theirs taken i this way - often the photographer would be lucky to escape with camera and nose intact!

Learned something old again today! I had never heard of "walkies". Reminds me of the pictures taken at Disneyworld when you get off a roller coaster and are offered a picture of your family on the way down.

In the 1960s my dad was a machinery salesman who called on the big sugar plantations in Hawaii. One trip, he took my mother as a little second honeymoon and while there they had a walkie made. As a kid the photo fascinated me because they looked so young and happy - my older sister wasn't yet 1 year old - and by the time I was looking at the photo ten years had passed. I still love the photo but now I've lost track of where it might be.

A fascinating presentation, Brett. The roving street photographer's trade may be gone now, but it is replaced with blurred pedestrians in Google Street View; jerky figures from security camera videos; and frightening collisions from Russian dashboard cams. Part of the attraction for Sunny Snaps was the mystery. What did the camera capture? Won't know unless you buy one.

Thanks for sharing this great collection of an industry which I also had never heard of...but it supports my theory that candid pictures are so much better, and certainly more natural, than "posed" ones. Now if I can only convince my grandchildren of that.

Thanks, interesting article!!Only reinforcing my interest in architecture instead of people. Couldn't stand the aggravation!! But I was bothered by a security guard recently because I was standing in the parking lot of a public building, photographing the old building next door... He finally went away. But I was ready to argue that a public building, paid with public taxes, would have no claim to privacy... MY photographs are not taken with any malicious intent, and i often only focus on details which I further alter, (poetic license here...), to feature my hometown, my way... If someone has any objection, I am willing to discuss this in front of a judge. :)~ HUGZ

Well, to be honest, I think the behaviour of the security guard was a little over the top, but who knows what the instructions from his superiors were. One can never be sure whether those in such positions are acting according to official policy, or just exercising their authority for the sake of showing who's in charge.

That's why I stayed where I was, didn't pick up an argument with him but made it clear I was aiming at that other building. Construction workers from another adjacent building who saw the whole scene laughed at his attitude. But yeah, I expect the directive came from "upstairs"...

The photos are wonderful. I think the photographers went for the beautiful people! I guess who would like to buy an ugly picture. A splendid idea to go out and snap the people, when not many owned a camera.The snaps of the moment are always the best.

By the 1930s, thanks to Kodak, I believe a large proportion of the population owned cameras. Somehow I think the attraction of walkies was quite different, but perhaps it was merely that the photographers were so skilled at marketing their wares. I would now happily pay for one of these, I think.

Great article Brett, very interesting and thank you for including my 'Sunny Snaps', I think I only have that one. It's interesting to know where the different companies worked and the marketing strategies. I like the panel on the Sunny Snaps, it definitely adds something and was obviously a bonus in later years reminding you where and when.

You indicate that Sunny Snaps operated to 1940. I believe that they started up again after WWII. I have a copy of a walkie of a distant relative, taken in London, with the distinctive Sunny Snaps logo, and inscribed on the back (when sent to her sister in Canada) "10.10.1949. Many happy returns. This was taken last Sunday"